Anti-Doping, Doping, Corruption and Cheating in Sport.

ANOTHER HIGH-PROFILE KENYAN ATHLETE HAS FAILED A DOPING TEST, AFTER SUMGONG WAS TAKEN FOR DOPING.

The chairman of Athletics Kenya (AK), Jackson Tuwei, has told Reuters that another “high-profile athlete” has failed a doping test, just weeks after it emerged Rio Olympics marathon champion Jemima Sumgong tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. Is it a new runner from Dr. Rosa’s training group?Jackson Tuwei (photo under) told Reuters that the IAAF, the sport’s global governing body, had found the positive test but said the identity of the athlete could not yet be revealed. IAAF has at the moment 57 Kenyan elite athletics athletes on their doping watchlist!

Kenya’s middle and long distance success has been marred by doping cases involving elite athletes. Officials estimate the number of positive tests at about 50 in the past four years.

“There is another high-profile athlete who has also failed a doping test but we have to wait for legal procedures to be followed,” Tuwei told Reuters in an interview on Thursday 27.April.

“Obviously we cannot say who the athlete is.”

News of the test comes after Sumgong, who last year became the first Kenyan woman to win Olympic gold in the marathon, tested positive for the banned blood-booster EPO (erythropoietin) in an out-of-competition test carried out by IAAF. Maybe it is from the same IAAF testing in Kenya, this other person also have tested positive. This tests was taken by The Abbott World Marathon Majors (for IAAF) is a series consisting of six of the largest and most renowned marathons in the world. The races take place in Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York City. And since the test was taken in Kenya it is probably EPO involved. EPO seems to be “doped kenyan runners” favorite doping substance.

Photo: Samsung’s husband and coach Noah Talam at Nandi district in Kenya, coaching his group in March.

Anti-Doping World will not be supriced if the runner is from the same Dr.Rosa training-group as JemimaSumgong, Rita Jeptoo, Agatha Jeruto and Mathew Kisorio, all this runners are taken for doping from that training-group lead by Dr.Rosa and Sumgong’s husband Noah Talam. If Anti-Doping World should put money on who this “new high-profile athlete” is, it would have been, Noah Talam’s sister, Sarah Chepchirchir. She has had a remarkable progress this winter, and is a part of her brother’s and Dr.Rosa’s training-group. But this is just speculations from us, we have to wait and see.

Left photo: Sarah Chepchirchir winning Tokyo Marathon in February, at time 2:19:47 (PB). Right photo: Dr. Gabriele Rosa (75y) at New York Marathon, Nov.-16.

Tuwei said the IAAF had rejected Sumgong’s explanation about the circumstances that led to her positive test.

“Her explanation has been rejected and she has been ordered to send a more convincing explanation before further action is taken,” Tuwei said.

Sumgong’s positive test came in the wake of a four-year ban handed to Kenya’s multi-marathon champion Rita Jeptoo, Sumgong’s former training partner, after she tested positive for EPO in 2014.

Photo: Dr.Rosa’s training camp in Kenya.

“We also wish to send a very strong message to athletes representatives, doctors, coaches and all athletes support personnel that those found culpable or proved to be encouraging our athletes in this line of sporting subterfuge will be charged as prescribed by the law of the land,” AK said in a separate statement on Thursday.

Sumgong, 32 years, was among the six Kenyan gold medalists in Rio Olympic, which was the country’s best performance at an Olympics.